Man oh man what a nail biting event it was – UFC Fight Night Rozenstruik vs Gane.
Whilst the main event was a slight disappointment, the fights that really stood out were Munhoz vs Rivera and Beuno Silva vs De La Rosa.
Lets begin with the opening fight on the main card – Alex Caceres vs Kevin Croom.
This contest was touted to be an exciting opener for the main card, especially after what Croom did in his debut fight in the UFC versus Roosevelt Roberts – knocking him out in the first round!
However, Caceres turned out to be a couple of notches above Croom in every department of the game and proved to the UFC why he needs to be given more fights. Crooms takedowns were sloppy and he managed to secure just 1 out of the 16 takedowns. Even after he secured the takedown, Croom couldn’t do much.
A clear unanimous decision by all 3 judges in favor of Alex Caceres.
The second fight on the card was by far the most exciting fight of the night – Pedro Munhoz vs Jimmie Rivera, the rematch!
The last time they fought was in 2015 where Rivera emerged victorious via a razor thin split decision. This fight has been in the making and has got cancelled a few times in the past. But on this card, the scores had to be settled. Pedro Munhoz put on a show for the fans. Munhoz was on a mission and showed his intentions in the first few seconds of the fight when he opened his game with a vicious head kick.
The calf kicks too, turned out to be a game changer for Munhoz. Rivera was fighting his way through till the vicious body shot in round 3 showed visible pain on Rivera’s face. Again, the leg of Rivera was badly damaged and the decision was a clear one.
I wasn’t surprised to see this fight get the Performance of the Night bonus from the UFC.
The Women’s fight on the main card was another brilliant performance by two submission specialists in Montana De La Rosa vs Mayra Beuno Silva.
Montana came off a loss versus Viviane and on the other hand we have Mayra that had a fabulous arm bar victory in her last fight vs Mara Romero.
Mayra came in super confident for this one, however, it was Montana that started off the fight with a swift jab and a low kick. Montana seemed to want to show the judges and the UFC that she truly belongs in the Octagon and is willing to go the distance to prove herself. The game changed majorly when Silva grabbed the fence to prevent a takedown and the referee deducted a point for that. Silva apologizes, but the referee feels it could’ve been a game changer. Hence ensures the point has been taken away.
Round 2 and 3 were to and fro with multiple submission attempts by Montana, escaped beautifully by Mayra.
Overall, it was an extremely close contest that was ruled a majority draw.
A majority draw in MMA means two judges scored the fight as a draw. One judge sees a winner.
Overall, an exciting card with some surprises. Nonetheless, setting up for a smashing card on 7th March, 2021 with 3 title fights on UFC 259 where I would be in the studio covering the event live on Sony Ten 1 and will be running my mouth on my newly launched podcast The Fighting G.O.A.T available on the IVM Podcast Network.
Podcast link: https://ivmpodcasts.com/the-fighting-goat About the author Somesh Kamra is a professional mixed martial artist specializing in Muay Thai. He has designed many effective training programs for Superhuman Gym and the Police Academy. His knowledge of hand to hand combat is unbeaten and has been a success story for many students. Somesh Kamra is educated from the University of Gold’s Gym in the field of physical fitness that includes strength training, plyometrics & cardiovascular training for muscular conditioning. He works closely with the UFC for India and serves as the panelist for the TV Show – The Ultimate Guide to UFC and Pit Stop on Sony Sports Network. Instagram: Somesh.Kamra Twitter: Somesh_Kamra